architect and construction manager sentenced to suspended prison sentence on appeal

The architect and the works manager, implicated in the collapse of a balcony which caused the death of four young people and injured 14 people in 2016 in Angers, were sentenced by the Angers Court of Appeal, Tuesday May 28. The architect, found guilty of injuries and manslaughter, was sentenced to three years in prison and a fine of 30,000 euros. The works manager received a two-year suspended prison sentence and a fine of 1,500 euros. Both men were acquitted at first instance.

On October 15, 2016, a group of friends participated in a housewarming party in an apartment on the third floor of a building in downtown Angers, delivered in 1998. While the evening took place peacefully, the balcony had suddenly broken loose, dragging eighteen people into the void. Four of them, aged 18 to 25, lost their lives.

In May 2022, the Angers court at first instance sentenced the boss of the masonry company which built the building as well as the site manager and the controller of the audit office to suspended prison terms and fines. . But the works manager, Eric Morand, similarly prosecuted for injuries and manslaughter, was acquitted. As for the architect Frédéric Rolland, he was found responsible on the civil level, but not on the criminal aspect. The prosecution had decided to appeal against these two acquittals.